ରଥ ସପ୍ତମୀ ଶ୍ଲୋକାଃ

The verses said on Ratha Saptami, the seventh of the bright fortnight of Magha, when the Sun's chariot turns toward the north. Three are for the bath: seven leaves of the white arka are set on the head and shoulders, and the Saptami herself is addressed — beloved of the seven horses, single lamp of the seven worlds — and asked to carry off quickly the sin gathered over seven births. One is the arghya, offered to Divakara together with the Saptami. An alternate reading follows, which counts the sin sevenfold — of this birth and of other births, of mind and speech and body, known and unknown — and asks that it be taken away along with the seven diseases. The last verse holds up the number itself, seven and seven and the great seven and the earth of seven islands, and names the day.